Epic Games' MetaHuman Creator Generates Photorealistic Virtual Humans

Epic Games has developed MetaHuman Creator, a free cloud-streaming app that generates photorealistic, customizable virtual humans in minutes. Users select a base face and adjust features like hair, eyebrows, skin, and teeth. The tool is built on Unreal Engine and can export models for animation and use in games and films. It aims to reduce costs and time compared to traditional methods requiring expensive equipment and large teams. Epic Games achieved this through years of work and acquisitions of 3Lateral and Cubic Motion, which specialize in digitizing human bodies and facial animation. Past projects include digital doubles of actress Bingjie Jiang and actor Andy Serkis. The technology was showcased in the demo 'The Matrix Awakens' for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X, featuring digital versions of Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss. The demo includes a playable segment and an explorable city populated by 35,000 pedestrians created with MetaHuman Creator. The app could be used in video games and cinema, combined with motion capture and rigging.